The Independent Commission on the duties of technical officers in the Department of Agriculture, established after industrial action earlier this year, is concluding soon. IMPACT representatives will attend a meeting next week (Wednesday 10^th December) with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The Commission’s report will be binding on all parties and will determine the future of technical grades in the department.

The report of the six month LRC conciliation, which concluded in September, is also due to be published and is eagerly awaited by members of the Agriculture No. 1 branch. A number of issues were unresolved during the conciliation process, and these will now go to arbitration.

IMPACT assistant general secretary Chris Cully said the branch is approaching the end of a long and difficult process. “We believe the report will turn the tide on the migration of duties of the technical staff in the department. This will make the technical grades indispensible to the service delivery within the department” she said.